Process of preparing fibers.



No. 815,876. M PATENTED MAR.20,1\906.

v B. s. SUMMERS.

PROCESS OF PREPARING FIBERS. APPLICATION FILED HAIR. 6,1905.

a J g "a i v 5 7 6 I [L ZZ f m 4 I 4 1 g f I Z 4 t 1 I s A 1 1- I UNITED STAT -E S BERTRAND s. SUMMERS; on PORT nuRoN, MroiiidAii," As es-6 we SUMMERS FIBER COMPANY, or CHICAGO,- ILLI Q s-A 'ooaroaarron Befit known thatI, BERTRAND MnRs; a citizen of the United States, residing To all whom itmdy concern} f OF WEST VIRGINIA.

Specification of Letters Patent. I lie-rob 20,

v Gontimiatlon of application No. 238,001, filed December 22,1904; This applioation flloii- KarirhBIlQbfi. I Koat Port Huron, in the county of St. Clair an State of Michigan, have mvented new and useful Improvements in Processes of .Pre aning Fibers, of which the following is a ll,

straw while the latter is still'in refrigerated clear, concise, and exact description, reference being had to the; accompanyi drawin s, forming a part of this-specification.

, invention relates to a process of preparing berssuch as'flazghemp, and other ast fibersand has for its object an improved process ofseparating the fiber from the woody material of the stalks or straw and an, or quality of the sepa- 1 improved condition I have discovered that by. subjecting the straw to prolonged refrigeration at a com paratively low temperature and separating the fiber from the woody materia 'of the condition the se aration of the fiber from the Woody materia is not only facilitated, but

an improved q uality offiber obtained. The

prolonged refrigeration of the straw makes 1ts woody material brittle and facilitates its separation from the fiber when the straw 1s passed through the cleaning-'machi'ne or other separating device, while the retention of moisture in the straw, due to the refrigerated condition of the latter, prevents any tendency of the fiber to run to tow and reserves its qualsubjection of the straw to a refrigerating tem- 4 process of i I whieh ity of nature unim aire tion of a condition of full nature in theseparated fiber thus attained enhances its spinning qualities and correspondin ly adds to its value. I have found in practice that the ahrenheit for a, period of from sixt to one hundred hours is roductive' of goo results and that even-a iower temperature anda more'f rolonged period of refrigeration are got eb ectiQnabIeand may at times be benecia 1 I have illustrated means for practicing the my invention in the accompany- 1n drawings, in which-,

ure 1 1s a transverse section of a mill in v the fibers may be pre ared in accordance with my invention. I 1g. 2 is a section taken on the line 2 2 of Fig. 1, and Figs. 3 and The preservaerating-inclosure. Like nurnerals refer tolike partsin the sew eralfig'ures. 'It-will of course be understood that my in wenti'on'mayflbepracticedby means of'any suitable instrumentalities, and-ffor the; ur'-. pose of'disclosing 'my invention 1' have 'lu's:

,trated atypical form, of refrigerating-inclo i sure, and atypical form'of cleanin m achine; but these" may be. varied to. suit emands'; or specific requirements, ff

cleaning-rnachine 2 of an desired construe '4 are detailed refriga1, 5 In the apartment'l 1s placed a suitable;

tion, this machine being i lustrated dia grammatically. A partition separates the apartmentl from t e refrigerating apartment or inclosure 3 and is preferably formed as shown in Fig.4, wherein walls A and 5 are provided at "a short distance apart, the intervening epace being filled'with wood-shavings or the 1 e to form air-proof and moisture-proof partitions. The apartment 3 may be divided into a plurality of refrigerating-chambers by partitions 6 7. The partitions 6 and 7 and the roof 8 and floor Qmay-be constructed substantiall as illustrated in Fig. 4. The out side we of the'refrigerating-apartment 3 may be'constructed as illustrated in Fig. 3,

whereinthere is an outer wall 11 formed of, two layers of wood, between which isarranged a layer of felt, and an inner wall comprising layers 13 and 14 with an interposed packing of wood-shavings or the like. An airetween the layers 1 1.

space may be provided I and the layer .13. Hatches 16' may be formed in t eroof of each compartment,

through which the bundles of straw or fiberstalks may be passed. A series. of refr' erating-pipes- 17 may be provided within t e refngerating-chambersm convenient positions. The refrigerating compartments communi cate by oors 19, 20, and .21, respectively with thehandling-room 22, which is provide with double doors 23 24, opening into the cleaning-room 1. By the arrangement of the double doors the fibers m'a be transported from the re erating-cham rs to the cleanof the respective inclosures.

It is desirable that the straw or stalks shall ng-roomwit out altering the temperatures Y mg-machine is located by properly regulat-' ing the temperature and moisture of the at- IO mosphere'm' such room and causing the requisite EHIOImt'tOf moisture for the straw to "be gplied byprecipitationi E amngthus-deseribedmy inyentiom'what claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters I 5 Batent,-1s-

1. The herein-described process of prepar- I vegetable fibers, which consists in sub- ,gectingthe same to prolonged artificial reufnigeraition andtthen breaking and separating 20 the wood therefrom while inrefrigerated eondition. I

;2. Thehereimdescribed process of preparing vegatablerfibers,whiohconslsts-in-sub eet= mg the same to prolongedartificial-refrigera- 5 tiontand than passing the .sam'e through a cleaning-machine while in refrigerated condition. v

3. The herein-described process of preparing vegetable fibers, which consists in subjecting the same to prolonged artificial refrigeration, then adding moisture, and finally passing the same through a cleaning-machine while in refrigerated condition.

4. The herein-described process of prt parin vegetable fibers, which consists in first su jecting the same to prolonged refrigeration in an artificially-cooled inclosure and then-removing the same therefrom and assing the same While in refrigerated con 1ti0n through a-cleaning-machine located in an atmosphere of higher temperature, substantially as and for the p ose described.

In witness whereoi l have hereunto subscrlbed my name in the presence of two witnesses.

BERTRAND S. SUMMERS.

Witnesses:

DAVID. MACTAGGART, .HARRIET T. SUMMERS. 

